Spectral Realm
1 Spectral Realm Also know as: Spectral, Spirit wilds, World of Spirits, Ethereal plane, Soul cloud, Sea of souls, Shadow realm, Plane of shadows, Netherworld, Realm of Tales?, The Realm of the Dead Ambient feel: Legacy of Kain: Defiance 2003, The Void 2008, Ecco: The Tides of Time 1994, Akuji the Heartless 1998, Master Reboot (game), Abandonment, Forgotten, Eternally Lost, Beyond Retrieval http://whitewolf.wikia.com/wiki/Shadow_(CofD) http://whitewolf.wikia.com/wiki/Twilight Spectral realm is secondary state of existence next to prime material plane. They exists simultaneosly with one other. Spectral realm’s nature is that of purgatory. It’s a place where the little what is usually left of a person’s consious when (s)he dies is left, is lingering (the vestige). Death that occurs as the natural result of the vacation of the soul from the body is a very traumatic and disorienting event for a human spirit. Thus it results in the disembodied spirit of the dead wandering around aimessly in the spectral realm. Death is the natural result of the vacation of the soul from the body. This is very traumatic and disorienting event for a (human) spirit, and often results in Many times, the shaman’s role is that of a psychopomp – one who guides the souls of the dead from the spectral realm to the edges of the astral plane. However, greater spirits also dwell here, such as dead outsiders too powerful to be absorbed into their plaines and the dreams of slain deities put to rest eons before the current age. Elemental spirits of places and colossal immobile objects can send out their incarnations in the spectral realm, which the conjuration shaman can then manifest in the material world. Spectral also serves as a place for hidden messages and highway of powerful magick and beings who/which reflect themselves upon the material realm. A traveller in the spectral realm expriences the material world as if it were an insubstantial ghost with long shadows and vaporing edges. It’s similar to the deep depths of the ocean in that light and shadow play much more important roles than colors. Light is life and life is soul energy. When one passes through the curtain into this realm, time is slowed down to one half the rate it flowed in the material realm (in game terms, things move slowly in spectral). For every two hours spent in spirit realm only on hour has passed on the corporeal world. To transit to another plane (again) the souls of the dead must be caught by a soul eater of some sort. Angels and demons are such beings (which are agents of divine/godly beings), and they vigorously search through spectral realm to feed their dimensional overlords. The agents acts as a conduit to their master, who then uses the souls to whatever purpose (s)he wishes. From many negative energy aligned souls one could create a demon for example. This process also enables one’s soul to reincarnate in the material realm. When a soul has been consumed by a spectral predator, it still holds some of its self-identity. Only after being spent on creation of a new being does it completely lose any distinguishing features. This is known as the final or absolute death. Not all souls are caught so easily by spectral predators though. Those belonging to a pantheon of some sort tend to have a ”resistance” to be devoured by those who aren’t their pantheon god’s agents. They can still be converted to a another ”faith”, but this takes some additional effort by the devourer (see Spirit Alchemy). Spirits grow gradually more and more aware of their environment, a process known as afterlife realization. The more conscious the more ”material” his or her spirit body is. Those with no awareness wander around as shimmering lights (with maybe a skull or face blazing inside). Also, some souls are so powerful and/or advanced in the art of soul symmetry that they can come to manifest their souls as spectres in the Spectral Realm either instantly or after some time. Soul energy is the only life energy in this plane. When a spirit is being harmed it loses some of its conscious and its spirit body will become less dense and transparent. Eventually it may dissipate altogether into wandering will-o’-the-wisps. Usually spirits attempt to drain or consume other spirits of their energy rather than just destroy them. Of the souls that dwell long in the spectral realm, those with vast experience that mutate into strange creatures, such as ghosts or fey, can extend their influence into the material real in mysterious and terrifying ways. Those beings who are not strictly ”lost souls”, the most native creatures to the spectral realm generally fall into two categorias of (opposite) energy composition: the immortis and fey. For this reason a being can’t be both undead and fey at the same time. Spellcasters utlize the spectral real with spells like blink, etherealness, and ethereal jaunt. 1.1 Soul reflection TODO: cast SHADOW into the spectral realm. This is why the Spectral Realm is known as the Plane of Shadows. Living beings cast their aura at the spectral realm. Aura is determined by the creature’s color focus (an elf would show up as turquoise aka blue-green). This will also be his/her spirit color of (s)he would die. TODO: The void – more color stuff. Importance of color in spectral realm? Mix with Aether Body section? Nonanimate objects are seen as distorted and intangible shadows. Malevont demons reflect themselves into the spectral as chaotic stormy mess of souls. Angels show as structured, diamond like soul constructions. Chaotic alignmented creatures will show themselves as recless spirits and lawful creatures as calm spirits. 1.5.2 Color in Spectral Realm Color can’t exist conventionally in the Spectral Realm. When color would transition to the spirit realm or it would be generated in the spirit realm, it turns to its corresponding ambience energy instead. Fire turns into brightness. Frost turns into darkness. Lightning has flashes of light followed by darknening of the ambience (the light intensifies and focuses into specific area). If spectral ambient magick would manifest in the material realm, it’s invisible instead (see Eclipse). 1.1.1 Secrets of the dead Most of the interaction between these two worlds is through necromancy, necrourgy, and shamanism in which one manipulates or negotiates with the spirits of the spectral realm from the material realm. Attempting to return or materialize from spectral to material realm requires knowledge in the field of soul symmetry. TODO: Psychic power relation to spectral? 1.1.2 Immortis Also known as: Undeath, Negative energy, Necroplasm Immortis is the energy known as opposite to that of the reverie in the spectral realm. It can be descriped as ”negative energy” and is the fundamental energy which powers the undead. An undead is a being that is deceased yet behaves as if alive. Usually this state is reached through magickal reanimation of an once-living creature’s corpse. Undead may be incorporeal like ghosts, or corporeal like vampires and zombies. (wikipedia : Undead) With rare exceptions, undead have little or no metabolism to speak of. They do not produce heat, are usually changeless and mostly bloodless. While they endure over time and learn new facts, they rarely change or appreciate new paradigms. (Libris Mortis, page 9-11) The process of entropic animancy (necrourgy) can happen as a method of propagation between undead and their victims. Contact with some of the undead can cause illnesses. If a corporeal creature diseased this way perishes within a certain period time, it may reanimate as an undead akin to the one who contracted the contagion upon it. (Libris Mortis, page 7) The very existence of undead produces a constant drain on the energies of the Material Plane, which accounts for sensation of cold often attributed to the unliving. As part of the enchantment of their creation, undead ”siphon” a bit of the energy flowing from the corporeal world to power their ongoing existence. (Libris Mortis, page 7) Undead can be sentient although the most common are not. Most undead attack any living creatures they detect and some are even required or compelled to do so for their continued existence. They tend to be heavily damaged by the energies of the reverie and celestial. There exist many types of undead, most of which begin their existence through and in the spectral realm (as wraiths). Here they will be pretty much clossed over very quickly, focusing mostly on those relevant to the studies of magick. The process of a spirit becoming more and more like an undead is known as the atrophy of the soul. 1.5.4.1 Vampire Vampire is an undead which requires blood of living beings for sustenance. Important concept is the progenitor deity which is the being who set the specific branch of demonic plague (aka the vampirism) upon the world. In a sense, vampires are (unwilling) supporters of the dark gods. Vampire’s body is a transferer which slowly exports consumed blood from the vampire to the progenitor deity. This deity gives them experience for each drop of blood transferred this way. Vampire’s do not have stamina per se, but the more they physically extert themselves, the more blood is expended. Most of vampire’s supernatural abilities are invocations which require only a blood component which the progenitor deity provides (see Calling upon a deity & Sangromancy). In this way, the deity exchanges the spell’s usual components for the blood from the vampire. As the vampire’s vessel has a much closer connection to the deity (than a normal worshipper’s body), these invocations do not require the ”upfront” channeling time from the vampire. Because the blood components are taken from inside the vampire (no need to draw forth the blood) these spells act like they were quickened and have no casting or channeling times per se (aka pretty much spell- like abilities). Vampire’s blood invocation abilities can be understand by seeing what magickal discoveries the dark gods in most cases might have mastered: - Haemotheurgy, sangromancy, bloatmagery, illusionism, sciomancy, necrourgy, mysticism (teleportation), animism (psionics), infernal manifestation, flesh-sculpting, psychometabolism (shapeshifting), soul symmetry (spectral travel) Haemotheurgy works best (ie. has the best blood-to-power ratio) of all the magick discoveries. The classic ”drain blood” is a combination of telekinetics and haemotheurgy. In top of these blood invocations, the vampire is granted bodily transformations and abilities which over time transform the vampire more akin to its (demonic) progenitor deity. This process happens rather ”naturally” as the link between the deity and vampire gains strength and as the vampire’s blood reserve limit increases. These abilities usually include (but are not limited to): - buff to any or all to physical attributes (strength, constitution, speed, and so on) - nightvision, see beings with blood in them (”vein-o-vision”) - claws which enable wall crawling - telepathy between other vampires/demons - energy drain touch ? - resist sleep, charm, hold - immune to poison and paralysis - hard skin (scales or so), wings, turelim ears, snake tongue, demonic eyes - basically any physical change which the demonic entities posses - traceless step - regeneration Vampires enter a ”state of change” during which they transform to accept the gifts from their dark god. This may be a cocoon, egg, simply burrowing inside earth, or the classic coffin. Vampires manifest the usual undead weaknesses, but may also have the following weaknesses (TODO: depending upon which the progenitor deity himself/herself has or what (s)he chose for the vampire race ?? ): - Water burns like acid - Weakness to certain metals such as silver - Lowered fire resistance (vampire’s bodies are rather dry except for the blood) - Can be staked (staking paralyzes the vampire) - Sunlight ”erodes” the vampire very quickly and makes it unable to use blood invocations 1.1.3 Reverie Also known as: Feywild, World of Fairies, Faery Realm, Folklore, Court of Dream, Dream Court, Dream of Creation, Emerald Dream Ambient feel: Folklore 2007, Emerald Dream (WoW), Faun (band), Princess Mononoke, Pan’s Labyrinth, Ori and the Blind Forest A fey is a being that has come near the end of its existence – a dwindled god, a lost elemental spirit, or the unclaimed soul of a mortal creature who failed to cast his lot with the gods in time. When such a spirit despairs that it is on the verge of oblivion, something, somewhere, may hear him and answer. When this happens, the spirit is remade as a fey. Indeed, ”fey” is a state of existence, ontologically no different from the state of being undead, except that fey exist on a separate pole of the spectrum. The fey believe that all things are but dreams of the world and that they are particularly deep (subconscious) ones. (Kennan 2006, 9-12) Spirit realm has its own ecosystem: a fallow of souls which centers around sources of great soul energy. For example, ancient trees with lots of soul energy and strong affinity with spectral, might convert lost souls into wisps. Wisps are spirits of fey nature and may manifest themselves in material realm, mostly likely as dryads bound to the tree or grove, doing the tree spirit’s or other fey creature’s wishes. They may channel their powers through them (animating trees for example). Wisps may also acts as ”seeds” and grow into treefolk. Wisps that gather their energy can manifest themselves in material realm as a chosen fey creature. Large mass of trees can combine together into a vast spectral matrix/net that the fey spirits are able to travel through. Dream/Reverie/Fey Blossoming Greater fey spirits or those with affilities with greater spirits (within the hiearchy of the grove) are able to ”grow” a vessel for themselves in the material realm. Ents, treants, and dryads (and other nymphs) are examples of fey spirits that have found purely natural vessel to contain their souls. Centaurs and satyrs are fey spirits that have ”merged” and/or ”grown into” an animal body. TODO: How about manticores, griffins, chimeras and sphinxes? Fey have no normal physical needs and do not age, but need to transfer life energy with their surrounding wilderness. This is done in a symbiotic fashion that strengthens both parties involved. To them, the line between spectral and material realms are blurred, and both places are natural parts of their lives, much like the sleeping and the waking worlds to mortals. In this sense, fey are agents recruited from lost souls by primordial forces of nature, souls given one last chance of existence. They are creatures that have no other recourse for continued life; recurring dreams, that will fade should the universe stir in the night (Kennan 2006, 9). They embody the wild, chaotic essence that is part of every living thing (Fey Magic – Dreaming the Reverie, page 4). The reverie are a primordial force and many of their kin acts as ancient ancestors to races hat inhabit the material realm as their native plane. Elves, gnomes and goblins for example are beings who originated from fey forms but who have been able to enter and anchor their existence in the material realm. A mortal of fey ancestry is called a ”muryan” (Kennan 2006, 11). The process in which lost soul turn into fey spirits is known as soul synthesis. 1.1.4 Druidic Circle To be a druid is to be a part of druidic circle. Members of the circle devote their lives to the service of a (spectral located) fey grove. When members of this circle meet their demise and enter the spectral realm, their souls are automatically considered to be a part of the circle’s fey grove. This works much in the same way as clerics of utmost fate having their souls in spectral have to ”converted” before being able to be consumed by agents of those deities which are not of the soul’s faith. Depending on the fey grove, it can store a ”copy” of the druidic circle member’s consciosness. This means that when the druid dies, it can easily/immediately be restored to its consciosness again. TODO: Chapter: Dryad "Feywild" in Dungeons & Dragons new ”Dreamwalker” class? emerald dream – druids/shamans can astral project into there? ? – fey connection H. P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands Fey ambient – Emerald dream Fey dominant spectral section – usually a hub of a grove